Bourne 4 News (and Thoughts on Indy 5)

IESB has posted a brief video interview with producers Frank Marshall and Pat Crowely, the guys who brought both Indiana Jones and Jason Bourne to the big screen.

Key tidbits include a confirmation of the rumors regarding a fourth Bourne movie. Marshall says they’ll be shooting next summer and aiming for a 2010 release. He also notes that while there was a fourth Bourne book, it wasn’t written by Robert Ludlum, and therefore they will dismiss it, opting instead to write an original script. He hints that Bourne may find himself in South America, because “that’s one place he hasn’t been.”

I have to admit, I’m skeptical about this. Bourne’s story has come full circle, and a fourth installment seems more like a blatant money-grab than an organic choice. Sending him to South America simply because he hasn’t yet been there seems indicative of this. Seriously, how arbitrary. At any rate, the script is underway, and though I’m too lazy to look up the link right now, I do believe Matt Damon has confirmed that he’s attached.

The two men also ruminate about a fifth Indiana Jones installment, and they both seem to dismiss the idea that Shia LeBeouf would pick up the mantle in Harrison Ford’s stead. I’m not a big Indy fan, but this should be good news to the hardcore fans who felt the final scenes of Crystal Skull were providing a segue for Indiana Jones: The Next Generation. Sadly, the producers don’t seem optimistic about the possibility of another Ford installment. Since it took them 19 years to come up with an acceptable script for the latest film, they don’t appear confident that another story is ready to be told. Truth be told, this is probably a good thing.